Distributed Management Task Force - Standards

Standards

DMTF standards include:

• Cloud Infrastructure Management Interface (CIMI) - CIMI is a self-service interface for infrastructure clouds, allowing users to dynamically provision, configure and administer their cloud usage with a high-level interface that greatly simplifies cloud systems management. The specification standardizes interactions between cloud environments to achieve interoperable cloud infrastructure management between service providers and their consumers and developers, enabling users to manage their cloud infrastructure use easily and without complexity.
• Common Information Model (CIM) – The CIM schema is a conceptual schema that defines how the managed elements in an IT environment (for instance computers or storage area networks) are represented as a common set of objects and relationships between them. CIM is extensible in order to allow product specific extensions to the common definition of these managed elements. CIM uses a model based upon UML to define the CIM Schema. CIM is the basis for most of the other DMTF standards.
• Common Diagnostic Model (CDM) – The CDM schema is a part of the CIM schema that defines how system diagnostics should be incorporated into the management infrastructure.
• Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) – defines protocols for the interaction between systems management infrastructure components implementing CIM, a concept of DMTF management profiles, that allows defining the behavior of the elements defined in the CIM schema, the CIM Query Language (CQL) and other specifications needed for the interoperability of CIM infrastructure.
• Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH) – is a DMTF Management Initiative that include management profiles for server hardware management. SMASH 2.0 allows for either WS-Management or SM-CLP (a command line protocol for interacting with CIM infrastructure). SM-CLP was adopted as an International Standard in August 2011 by the Joint Technical Committee 1 (JTC 1) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) .
• System Management BIOS (SMBIOS) – defines how the BIOS interface of x86 architecture systems is represented in CIM (and DMI).
• Alert Standard Format (ASF) – defines remote control and alerting interfaces for OS-absent environments (for instance a system board controller of a PC).
• Directory Enabled Network (DEN) – defines how LDAP directories can be used to provide access to CIM managed elements and defines CIM to LDAP mappings for a part of the CIM schema.
• Desktop Management Interface (DMI) – DMI was the first desktop management standard. Due to the rapid advancement of DMTF technologies, such as CIM, the DMTF defined an "end of life" process for DMI, which ended March 31, 2005.
• Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware (DASH) – a management standard based on DMTF Web Services for Management (WS-Management), for desktop and mobile client systems.
• Configuration Management Database Federation (CMDBf) - CMDBf facilitates the sharing of information between configuration management databases (CMDBs) and other management data repositories (MDRs). The CMDBf standard enables organizations to federate and access information from complex, multi-vendor infrastructures, simplifying the process of managing related configuration data stored in multiple CMDBs and MDRs.
• Platform Management Components Intercommunication (PMCI) - A suite of specifications defining a common architecture for intercommunication among management subsystem components. This suite includes MCTP, PLDM and NC-SI specifications.
• Virtualization Management Initiative (VMAN) – A suite of specifications based on DMTF’s CIM that helps IT managers: Deploy virtual computer systems, Discover/inventory virtual computer systems, Manage lifecycle of virtual computer systems, Create/modify/delete virtual resources and Monitor virtual systems for health and performance. VMAN was adopted as a National Standard by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) in June 2012.

Within the VMAN initiative, there are several specifications and profiles:

• Open Virtualization Format (OVF) – Standard for packaging and deploying virtual appliances. OVF was adopted by the American National Standards Institute in August, 2010. OVF was adopted as an International Standard in August 2011 by the Joint Technical Committee 1 (JTC 1) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) .
• DSP1042 – System Virtualization Profile
• DSP1057 – Virtual System Profile
• DSP1059 – Generic Device Resource Virtualization Profile
• DSP1041 – Resource Allocation Profile
• DSP1043 – Allocation Capabilities Profile

CIM related standards are also developed outside of the DMTF. Some examples are:

• The SNIA – develops and maintains the SMI-S standard that defines DMTF management profiles for Storage Area Networks.
• The Open Group – develops and maintains the CMPI standard that defines a C/C++ API for CIM providers.
• The Java Community Process – currently develops the JSR-48 standard that defines a Java API for CIM client applications.

CIM and WBEM are supported by a large number of products and open source projects. A small list is provided here:

• Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) – Implementation of CIM and WBEM in Microsoft Windows
• WBEM Solutions - WS provides WBEM Infrastructure and tools
• SBLIM – Open source project providing an implementation of CIM and WBEM for Linux as well as other CIM and WBEM related components and tools
• OpenPegasus – Open source project providing a CIM Object Manager written in C++ (the central infrastructure component for CIM and WBEM)
• WBEM Services – Open source project providing a CIM Object Manager written in Java
• OpenWBEM – Open source project providing another CIM Object Manager written in C++